Contents

In the morning in Los Angeles, Rain Robinson puts away items in her Volkswagenvan and walks over to Tom Paris, who is working on the van's radio. She nonchalantly notes that Paris must have noticed that thieves tried to steal it the other night, he fought them off, and is now repairing the damage. Paris says that is exactly how it happened. She plays with Paris' combadge while sitting down with him, which he promptly takes back from her. Robinson asks him about his life as a spy, but he cannot tell her any more, since it is "classified". She recalls that earlier he did not say he was a spy, rather that he was a secret agent, which nobody says. She remarks that he does things like this a lot... almost as if he does not belong in the current era. "Rain, you're fantasizing", he tells her. "And you're insulting my intelligence!", she snaps back. She talks of recent events, noting that yesterday she spotted a UFO in orbit and now her life is totally out of control. She tells Paris not to think that she is too stupid to notice this. He apologizes, but also asks her to accept that there are lives at stake and the more questions she asks him, the more difficult she makes it for everyone.

Changing the subject, Paris asks Robinson why she decided to become an astronomer. She recalls that her brother used to have a small telescope barely enough to see the sky in the treehouse next door, but it was enough for her. She remembers catching a glimpse of Saturn's rings, and that they looked like jewels from a pirate's treasure. "Good morning", a voice from behind Paris and Robinson says. Tuvok walks towards the table they are sitting at with chiliburritos, Goliath Gulps, and foot-long hot dogs for breakfast. Paris is unable to convert Robinson's radio to a locator signal, calling it "kind of crude." Tuvok comes up with another option – using the radio dish at the Griffith Observatory, and the same setup that Robinson had to send a message to the USS Voyager in orbit. Tuvok and Paris require her assistance. "Not on an empty stomach", she says as they begin to eat their "breakfast".

Voyager is in orbit of Earth. In the ship's briefing room, the senior staff is gathered. CommanderChakotay mentions that Henry Starling managed to download almost twenty percent of Voyager's computer core while they were trying to beam the Aeon, the timeship he stole, up to the ship. Chief engineerB'Elanna Torres is trying to replace as many of the programs Starling took as soon as she can but notes that some are simply irretrievable – like The Doctor. Kes tells CaptainJaneway that there is literally nothing left of the holographicphysician. Janeway says that The Doctor is just only one of their problems. Voyager's weapons are still offline, Tuvok and Paris are missing somewhere in Los Angeles, and they have been able to confirm Captain Braxton's hypothesis. If Starling does indeed try to take the Aeon to the 29th century, it will most likely destroy the entire solar system. EnsignHarry Kim has analyzed Braxton's "schematic", written on a dirty canvas, and has found that the temporal technology used in his vessel is incredibly complex. Even if Starling is a genius, as Torres points out, he is not a trained pilot from the 29th century and without the precise calibrations, the timeship will rip the space-time continuumapart. There will not be a 29th century for Earth and Humanity if Starling does time travel to the distant future.

Janeway underscores the importance of capturing the timeship, but Torres reports that Voyager's long-range transporters are still inoperative. To use transporters, they would have to drop to a low orbit, something which Neelix strongly recommends against. According to the Talaxian, a great deal of the legitimate news organizations have declared the videotaped footage of Voyager flying above Los Angeles to be a hoax, but the US military is taking the situation much more seriously. Voyager could get intercepted by the Air Force if it descends lower. As Janeway comes up with a plan to get Starling, she is interrupted by a crewmember, informing her they are receiving a message from Lieutenant Tuvok, audio only.

Tuvok reports that he and Paris are currently at the Griffith Observatory in the Hollywood Hills. They have modified the satellite dish transmitter to carry and receive Voyager communication frequencies. However, the connection is terrible. Tuvok informs Janeway that they have become associated with a young woman who works at the Observatory and of her connection to Starling, who supervises her lab. Janeway reveals to Tuvok that Starling has the timeship and he is the one who will cause the annihilation of the solar system. Tuvok agrees that they must try to find a way to stop him. Janeway asks if they can trust Robinson. Seeing that she and Paris seem to be bonding on a "cross-cultural level" due to their shared love of B-movies, he would have to say yes. Janeway wants Tuvok to ask Robinson if she would be willing to help the Voyager crew.

Meanwhile, at Chronowerx Industries, Henry Starling walks into his office and goes over to his desk. After tapping in a few commands to his keyboard, The Doctor materializes. After asking The Doctor how he has been, he responds to Starling that he finds his interest in his well being to be less than genuine. Starling asks him to be a little more grateful. As indicated in the schematics he took from Voyager, it showed him that The Doctor was stuck in sickbay for 24 hours a day. The Doctor notes that he recently had a severe program loss and is in the process of retrieving his lost memory files, but he has apparently been projected into other locations on occasion. He believes Starling is undoubtedly using a similar procedure. He points to his holographic simulator, which he and his staff use to test new microchip designs. He projected The Doctor through the holographic emitters in his office and notes his program really is not all that sophisticated. The Doctor demands to be brought back to Voyager but Starling tells him he cannot do that, as he has some questions he wants answered.

While The Doctor thinks he has medical expertise that he needs, Starling says that he believes all of Captain Janeway's claims of him causing a disaster is just a smokescreen to steal his timeship. Since the timeship is five hundred years more advanced than anything Voyager has in its possession, he believes that Janeway and crew are attempting to steal it for their own purposes and that he would be an easy target, since they probably consider him a "backwards 20th centuryNeanderthal who doesn't know what he's got." The Doctor instead believes that Starling is paranoid and his responses are indicative of bipolar personality disorder. The Doctor recommends he visit a psychotherapist, as there are no shortage of them in Southern California in the late 20th century. He again demands to be returned to his ship. Starling goes to his desk and sits down. He reveals that during his download of Voyager's computer core, he learned that the ship's weapons are down, the transporter is half-shot, but he did not gain access to all of the personnel files. He asks The Doctor for detailed information on Janeway's psychological profile, since he "must know my enemy." "I'm a doctor, not a database", The Doctor retorts. Starling begins to threaten him but The Doctor notes that since he is a hologram, he cannot feel pain nor experience the fear of death, so his threats mean nothing.

The Doctor experiences pain for the first time

Starling taps his keyboard and The Doctor grimaces in extreme pain. Starling taps another key and The Doctor falls to the ground. Starling notes that for a Human to be feeling what The Doctor is currently feeling right now... they would have to be on fire. Starling had reconfigured The Doctor's tactile response sensors for him to feel this way. The Doctor now agrees to cooperating with Starling. Just then, Starling gets called by Dave and is told that Rain Robinson wants to speak to him. He has her put through. Robinson expresses her fear that she will be found soon and she does not know what to do. Near her, Tuvok and Paris are listening in as she speaks to Starling on a cell phone. He tells her to take it easy and asks that she take a taxicab to his office. She refuses and Starling asks where she is. She tells him she is at Metro Plaza and specifically asks him to come get her and not anybody else. He says he will be there soon. Robinson tells Paris and Tuvok that Starling is on his way but that he sounded a little suspicious on the phone. Back at Starling's office, he tells The Doctor to get ready for a little walk. The Doctor incredulously informs him that he cannot go anywhere that does not have a holographic projection system. Starling exchanges looks with Dunbar.

Later, Starling arrives at Metro Plaza, driven by Dunbar in a black car. Starling gets out along with The Doctor, who inexplicably can now exist in an environment without holographic emitters. He wears a small, rectangular device on his left arm while Starling holds a small tube like device in his hand. Tuvok and Paris view them near the car and are utterly baffled by The Doctor's sudden, unexpected appearance.

Meanwhile, Chakotay and Torres are in a class 2 shuttle heading down towards Earth. Torres announces that the shuttle's interferometric dispersion is on-line, which should scramble RADAR from detecting the spacecraft. As well, she has configured the shuttle's deflector shields to disguise their visual profile. Chakotay reports the shuttle's transporter is on-line and that they should be in range in ten minutes. While the shuttle enters Earth's atmosphere, Chakotay points out to Torres that he can see the entire Baja Peninsula from their position. He says he thought he would never see it again after being lost in the Delta Quadrant for the last two years. Torres remembers he trained as a pilot in his first year at the Academy in North America. Chakotay says he also learned how to handle atmospheric storms on Venus and dodged asteroids for a semester in the belt.

Torres remarks that his time at the Academy sounded a lot better than hers; she remembers dodging a few punches in the lab. "Only you, B'Elanna, could start a brawl in Astrotheory 101", Chakotay jokes. As the shuttle gets more closer to Earth, Torres talks to Chakotay about the possibility of Voyager's crew being stranded here in the past. Voyager's first officer says there are still a few isolated places left in the 20th century but they would have to keep low profiles – and get jobs. Chakotay believes he would pursue archaeology or teach at a university. Or, he could participate in digs in Central America, as there were still many important discoveries to made in this era. He jokingly thinks he could even win a Nobel Prize. Torres thinks she would seek an engineering position as she considers herself to be a highly qualified Klingon. "I'd hire you in a second", Chakotay says sincerely. Their shuttle begins its descent.

At Metro Plaza, Tuvok scans with his tricorder and looks at Paris. Paris pulls out a cell phone and contacts Chakotay. He tells him that Starling has arrived – with The Doctor. "What?! How is that possible?" Torres asks. Paris does not know but Chakotay announces that the shuttle will be in range in two minutes. The Doctor looks around at his surroundings, trying to not look amazed while Starling observes him, noting that he seemed to be very quiet on the ride over. He says he is not programmed for small talk and assures Starling that it is just another environment for him. Seeing Rain Robinson heading toward them, Starling raises his device. Putting his hand on The Doctor's shoulder, he threatens "If your shipmates start any trouble, you'll be holodust." Tuvok moves over to Paris and takes his phone. He tells Chakotay that he has triangulated the position of Robinson's van and is uploading it to the shuttle. He should be able to lock onto Starling when he is inside.

Robinson walks up to Starling. He tells her to ask her friends to come out or he will kill The Doctor. She feigns ignorance and claims she does not know what he is talking about. He looks around and gestures her towards his car. She wants to take her van instead but he insists they are taking his car. Paris and Tuvok see this change of plan and Tuvok pulls out his tricorder. Upon approaching Starling's car, Robinson recognizes Dunbar as the man who tried to kill her at the Observatory the day before. Starling insists that he was only trying to rescue her and says he will be taking her to his office where she'll be safe. Tuvok quickly ascertains the coordinates for Starling's car with his tricorder and tells Chakotay to beam him up. Inside Starling's car, he begins to dematerialize as Robinson looks on, terrified. Starling pulls the device he had earlier out of his jacket as he is beginning to disappear. The Doctor tells Robinson to run as he wrestles with Dunbar in the front seat. Torres informs Chakotay that some kind of device Starling has is interfering with their transport. Dunbar is punching The Doctor in the face repeatedly, with no success in knocking him out. The Doctor knocks Dunbar unconscious with one punch, surprising the hologram. He runs out of the car and shortly after, Dunbar drives the Lincoln away in a hurry.

Paris and Tuvok reconvene with The Doctor and Robinson after their escape from Starling. The Doctor explains how he can now exist away from holo-emitters: an autonomous mobile emitter. In short, he is now "footloose and fancy-free." Back on the shuttle, Chakotay informs Captain Janeway that they have Starling in their pattern buffers but they cannot rematerialize him, since the interference is disrupting the computer pathways. On Voyager's bridge, Ensign Kim tells the captain that they are close enough to the shuttle to use the short range transporter to get Starling on board. They head to transporter room 1. The shuttle's pattern buffers are purged. However, it is quickly losing altitude. In the transporter room, Janeway sees that Starling has a device he is trying to use to prevent himself from being beamed up. Kim isolates the device and suppresses the amplitude which allows Voyager to beam Starling aboard. He immediately falls unconscious on the transporter pad and Janeway calls Kes for medical assistance.

Chakotay is struggling to maintain control of the shuttle. Propulsion is offline and the shuttle is going to crash on the surface.

Sometime later, Torres awakens in a dimly lit basement full of secondhand items. Her hands and feet are tied up. She finds herself right next to Chakotay who is similarily tied up. Suddenly, two men enter through a door and walk down the stairs towards them, one wielding a shotgun. "This one looks like an Indian. And that one... I don't know what her story is", one of the men says. The other looks at Torres' cranial ridges with confusion and reaches out to touch them. She loudly growls and he jumps back. The man, identified as Butch, is told to be careful; Torres looks like a fighter. Chakotay asks them who they are and Porter asks him to go first. He asks if they are spying on them and calls Chakotay "chief". Chakotay chuckles slightly at this and says they were just passing through. Torres adds that they had engine trouble and simply crashed. Butch and Porter have seen the shuttle they were flying in, however, and deduces that it is a stealth plane from the United States Government, sent to spy on them, as they saw USS on the shuttle and that Torres and Chakotay are wearing military uniforms. Porter calls the federal government "the beast", which Chakotay continues to deny and asks to be taken back to their "plane". At this point, Butch tells Chakotay to shut up and kicks him, which makes Torres reciprocate by knocking him to the ground. "That'll be all! Call for reinforcements", Porter states, with his shotgun trained on both Starfleet officers. When Butch leaves, Porter claims it will be a long day.

Back in Los Angeles, inside Robinson's van, she goes on and on about what had just happened, such as seeing Starling begin to disappear, which she notes has happened to her with men on a first date, but never literally. While driving, she turns her attention to The Doctor, calling him "Mr. Leisure Suit", due to the appearance of his Starfleet uniform. She recalls him getting punched several times in the car by Dunbar but she can not see any bruises on his face. The Doctor tells her to relax, as she appears to be hallucinating, which she mocks. Paris, sitting in the front seat, apologizes to Robinson for getting her involved in all of this. At this moment, Tuvok receives a call on his phone from Janeway on Voyager. She tells her chief tactical officer that they currently have Starling in their sickbay but they have lost contact with Chakotay and Torres. They were lost somewhere over the state of Arizona. Kim will be transmitting their last known coordinates to Tuvok's tricorder and she orders him to find them. Tuvok suggests that Paris and Robinson head to Chronowerx Industries while he and The Doctor make their way to Arizona to locate Chakotay and Torres.

Back on Voyager, Kes announces to Janeway that Starling had suffered minor synaptic stress during the extended transport, enough to cause him to become unconscious, but she can not detect any permanent damage. Janeway asks Kes to wake him and she does so with a hypospray. Starling awakens and Janeway welcomes him to the 24th century. He searches his jacket pockets for his 29th century tricorder but Janeway took the precaution of removing it from him. He tried to use it to block the transporter from working on him, but, as he points out, it didn't work. Janeway responds that it does work perfectly – he just does not know how to use it properly. Starling asks Janeway to give him some credit, since he did pretty well for a primitive. She says she has won this battle between them and demands he deactivate the force field around Chronowerx housing the timeship. Starling refuses, tells Janeway she is in no position to be making demands and states that he has rigged the timeship to be destroyed if Voyager attempts to go near it or beam it up. If that happens, Los Angeles will look like the face of the moon.

Janeway reacts incredulously to Starling's threats. "You don't care about the future, you don't care about the present, does anything matter to you, Mr. Starling?", she asks. He cares about the betterment of mankind but Janeway highly doubts that. Starling then reveals his true motivation for going far into the future – to get more technology. He has cannibalized as much as can from the Aeon but now, there is nothing left to base a commercial product on. The future is just waiting to be exploited for his company. Starling points out that he created the microcomputer revolution. Janeway, however, points out that he did that by using technology he should never have had in the first place. Starling calls that irrelevant, as his products benefit all of Earth. Without him, there would be no laptop computers, Internet or barcode readers. With this new technology he plans to reverse engineer, he can create the next ten computer revolutions. Janeway tells him that if he even attempts to travel into the 29th century, it will cause unimaginable devastation all through the solar system, causing billions of deaths. Starling tells Voyager's commanding officer that he is willing to take the risk. Janeway quietly tells him that in her time, no Human being would even dare risk the future to gain an advantage in the present. Starling tells her that he cannot worry about the future right now, as he has a company to run and a whole world of people waiting for him to make their lives better. Janeway walks away and asks Voyager's computer to activate the force field around the surgical bed. Before leaving, she turns to Starling and tells him "Chronowerx stock is about to crash."

Chakotay and Torres' class 2 shuttle crashed in Arizona

In Arizona, Porter has a drink and tells Chakotay and Torres about what he considers to be the two true forces in the world at work: the drive toward collectivity and the drive toward individuality. He tells the two they are the former and he is the latter. Torres again tells him they are not from the US Government. Porter rejects this again and tells her that the beast has many heads – and he is looking at one of them. Chakotay tells him that he used to think violence was the way to bring about change once, when he too was part of a revolutionary group but finds it is no longer the way. Chakotay thought he was once a freedom fighter, but notes Porter's gun will ultimately get him nowhere. Suddenly, Butch and three other anti-government followers open the door. He tells him the Feds are coming with three cars and a chopper, just two miles up Edgemont Road. "This is it, men", he announces. Porter unlocks the door into a storage room and the men pass out weapons. Porter looks to Chakotay and says that his friends seem to still think violence is the way. It is too bad for him, he says.

Back in Los Angeles, Robinson talks about what she has seen in the last day to Paris while they drive through the streets of the city together. She tells him she has seen every episode of Mission: Impossible, and Paris is hardly a secret agent. Paris reiterates that he cannot talk to her about his mission. As a scientist, Robinson cannot help but hypothesize. She thinks about alternate dimensions, close encounters, but Paris dismisses it. She calls Paris' "associates" a motley crew: starting with The Doctor, who she considers to have one of the worst tastes in clothing she has ever seen. She then finds Tuvok to be quite a "freak-a-saurus" and wonders if Paris has ever seen him crack a smile. "Not that I can recall", he says. When she eventually comes to Paris, she calls him sexy, but in a Howdy Doody sort of way. She also finds him goofy but admits that sometimes she thinks he is the smartest man she has ever met. She calls him dedicated and that he seems to care more about what happens in his mission than what goes on in his own life. He asks if it is really all that unusual. Robinson says it is.

Dunbar tries to find Starling

At Chronowerx Industries, Dunbar is sitting in the cockpit of the Aeon. He has the artificial satelliteSATCOM 47 activated in Earth orbit. He asks it to engage a location sweep for Starling. In Voyager's sickbay, Starling paces around the surgical bed while under the watchful eyes of a security officer and Culhane.

Tuvok contacts Voyager and reports to Janeway that he and The Doctor have successfully made it to Arizona, and they are thirty kilometers northeast of Phoenix, Arizona. Janeway orders them to get to the missing officers as fast as they can. Just then, Ensign Kim reports that an unauthorized transport is in progress, to Janeway's shock and Starling is beamed away from sickbay. Kim reports that a satellite Starling has in orbit sent a transporter signal through Voyager's shields like they weren't even there. Starling is back at Chronowerx and is typing away. He congratulates Dunbar on beaming him back and notes that it is time to get out of here.

Meanwhile, Robinson and Paris are now parked outside of Chronowerx. Paris is about to bid her goodbye. However, she asks if he is busy tomorrow night because she wants to hang with him. Paris tells her he cannot. She asks about the weekend and he is about to say no when she believes he is married. He replies that he is absolutely not, just very busy with his mission. She remarks he must be having to get back to Mars but he says he is going to Saturn instead, recalling back to their conversation earlier in the day. She is about to ask Paris for his phone number when Paris' tricorder detects something. He opens it and sees that it is picking up tachyon emissions coming from a semi truck. He thinks they are moving the timeship to somewhere else. He says "timeship" aloud and Robinson wonders what he is talking about. Paris turns to her and asks if she would not mind "hanging" with him for a little while longer. She smiles.

In Arizona, the authorities yell to Porter that they want the mysterious "aircraft" and the occupants of said aircraft. Porter yells at them to get off his land. Torres, talking to Chakotay, wonders what will happen when the authorities find a half-Klingon inside. Just then, the officer asks who the two men approaching him are. Tuvok's voice is heard, asking the officer to step aside, and the officer gives them a final warning before he is cut off by the sound of phaser fire and gunshots. Porter walks down the stairs towards Butch and says "They've got lasers! A black man and some bald guy!" He takes a defensive position behind some boxes and aims his shotgun at the door. It opens and The Doctor steps inside, armed with a phaser. Porter and Butch unload their ammunition at The Doctor, which harmlessly passes through him and onto the walls behind him. Stunned, Porter says "God in Heaven help us." "Divine intervention is... unlikely", The Doctor responds and fires his phaser at both revolutionaries, incapacitating them. He sighs while walking down the stairs and begins freeing Chakotay and Torres. He reports that Tuvok is at the shuttle and is in the process of making repairs. When Chakotay begins to ask how The Doctor is here, he replies that it is a long story but suffice it to say, he's making a house call.

Outside of Los Angeles, Paris and Robinson are pursuing the semi truck. Paris contacts Voyager with his phone. Paris informs Janeway that he and Robinson have turned off the main highway onto a desert road. Robinson grabs the phone from him and tells Janeway herself that there is no traffic on the road currently and the person driving the truck will know they are following him. Janeway thanks Robinson and tells her she'll keep that in mind. Janeway tells Paris that they have scanned the area and detected a small landing area just ahead of them, which may be where Starling intends to launch the Aeon. Janeway reminds Paris that Voyager's weapons are still off-line and Torres still has not finished repairing the shuttle. It may all be up to the helmsman to stop Starling. Dunbar, who is driving the truck, finally notices the Volkswagen van following him, makes a sharp turn, and pulls out his 29th century phaser. He aims it at the van but misses, thanks to Paris grabbing the wheel and moving it out of the way of the beam.

The Volkswagen continues to follow and Paris asks Robinson to move the van right behind the truck. She finally gets close enough and Paris fires his phaser at one of the tires. It explodes and the truck swerves around. The Volkswagen comes to an abrupt stop. Robinson keeps trying to turn the engine over, and Paris tells her it may be flooded and she should give it a second. Right then, the truck is heading towards the Volkswagen at full speed, intending to smash into it. Paris sees this right in time and yells for Robinson to jump out. They both make it out and just before the truck is about to crash into the van, the class 2 shuttle arrives and fires phasers at the semi truck, destroying it and killing Dunbar.

Chakotay contacts Paris and asks him for his status. Paris says they are fine and commends the shuttle crew for their shooting. Upon inspecting the ruins of the truck, Torres asks if the timeship was supposed to be inside. To confirm, Torres scans the debris. Chakotay finds that a temporal transponder was in the truck, set to give off tachyon signals. Chakotay immediately contacts Voyager and tells Janeway that it was a ruse. Starling will be launching the timeship from a different location.

At Chronowerx, Starling is sitting inside the Aeon and has the hyper-impulse drive engaged. He gives the command "Let's do it." The timeship takes off through the building's windows, destroying them. As the ship begins to ascend, Starling's face takes on an excited and sinister expression.

Kim reports that the timeship is entering Earth's upper ionosphere. Janeway orders he track Starling's course and that the shuttle return to Voyager immediately. Voyager's phasers are still off-line. Janeway has armed the ship's photon torpedoes, but they still cannot fire them as the launch activation sequencers are not responding. Kim suggests an alternative plan but Janeway decides there is no time. She leaves him again in command and orders that the access portal to torpedo bay 1 be opened. She is planning to reconfigure a torpedo for a manual launch. However, Kim warns her that, since the activation sequencers are down, she will have to launch it from inside the tube when it fires. He calls it too dangerous because of the plasma exhaust. She overrules him and leaves via a turbolift.

Back on Earth, Torres reports she has the shuttle's transporters back on line and Chakotay tells Paris he will be beaming him aboard shortly. Paris acknowledges and turns to Robinson to say a final goodbye to her. Paris tells her he has never met anyone like her... and he probably never will again. She says likewise and asks him to say hello to Saturn for her. Paris and Robinson share a kiss just before he leaves.

In space, Starling tells the Aeon's computer to initiate a temporal inversion. On Voyager, Janeway has arrived at torpedo bay 1 and begins the modifications. Kim announces that the timeship has jumped to warp 1. Janeway orders a pursuit course. The away team enters the bridge. The Doctor looks around the command center for Voyager for the first time and tells Kim it is a pleasure to finally be there. Chakotay is briefed about Janeway's plan and tells The Doctor to go down to the torpedo bay, as she will be undoubtedly injured when the photon torpedo is fired. However, The Doctor is not fully knowledgeable about Voyager's internal layout, so Chakotay orders Ensign Kaplan to go with him.

Starling has engaged his temporal field generator and will be able to open a rift in only seconds. Kim and Torres both report that the rift is unstable and will create a temporal explosion. Tuvok notes that events are occurring exactly as Braxton predicted and theorizes that the disaster may well be inevitable. "Fate, Tuvok? I won't accept that. Close to within ten kilometers. We'll ram him if we have to!", Chakotay orders Paris.

The timeship is destroyed

The Aeon's computer reports to Starling that the ship's temporal core has reached cascade potential. The timeship is getting closer and closer to the rift. Janeway taps her combadge and informs Tuvok that the torpedo has been reconfigured for manual launch. She orders Tuvok to arm it and lock onto the Aeon. Before Voyager fires, Chakotay hails Starling. He demands he pull away from the rift. Starling mocks the commander, as his vessel's weapons are still down. He gloats "See you... sometime", and terminates visual communications. Chakotay, seeing no other choice, tells Janeway to fire as the Aeon begins to enter the rift. Janeway fires the sole torpedo and is knocked out. She has a severe burn on her face.

Braxton arrives to take Voyager back to the 24th century

"Uh-oh!", Starling exclaims before he is killed by the torpedo hitting the timeship. In a turbolift, The Doctor is scanning Janeway with a medical tricorder and insists she come with him to sickbay for further treatment. She says there will be plenty of time for that later. She and The Doctor enter the bridge. Janeway asks Chakotay if there is any chance of Voyager re-opening the rift. However, Kim announces that the rift is now opening and something is emerging from it – the timeship. Receiving a hail from the vessel, the pilot is revealed to be none other than Captain Braxton. Upon Janeway's recognizing of him, he asks if she knows him. Chakotay says they do, unfortunately. Janeway recalls him trying to destroy Voyager in the 24th century and meeting him as a homeless old man in 1996. He explains he never experienced that timeline. Braxton says he is here as the Temporal Integrity Commission detected Voyager in the 20th century and he will bring the Starfleet vessel back to its proper time and place to correct that.

Janeway asks that Braxton return them to the 24th century but keep them here in the Alpha Quadrant, as they have been lost in the Delta Quadrant for the past two years. Braxton declines, citing the Temporal Prime Directive. Janeway returns to her chair and reluctantly orders Paris to follow the Aeon in.

"Captain's log, stardate 50312.5. We are again in the Delta Quadrant at the exact time and place we first encountered the timeship. I've resumed a course for Earth and I've ordered the crew to the mess hall for a toast."

In the mess hall, Janeway leads the crew for a toast to the future. She turns to the The Doctor and asks him how long he'll be out and about. The Doctor says his newfound mobility is entirely up to him. Torres is still trying to figure out how exactly the mobile emitter works but downloading The Doctor back into the ship's computer should not pose too much of a problem. The Doctor tells Kes that since he is now able to exist outside of sickbay, her responsibilities there will now increase. She states she is up to the challenge. She wonders about how he will adjust now that there is more to his life than just sickbay. He believes it is nothing he cannot handle and asks Janeway to be assigned quarters. "One step at a time, doctor", she tells him. Chakotay, Tuvok, and Neelix are gathered elsewhere in the mess hall to listen to Paris. He tells them that back on Earth, Tuvok spoke to a parking enforcement officer who came over to the van and the Vulcan tried to use logic to talk the officer out of giving them a parking ticket. When Chakotay asks if it worked, Paris says emphatically, no. "Given Mr. Paris' alleged familiarity with 20th century America, it is a wonder we survived the experience at all", Tuvok says. When Chakotay and Neelix walk away, Paris asks Tuvok if anyone has told him he is a "real freak-a-saurus."

"Talk about a motley crew. We have The Doctor – a guy with the worst, worst taste in clothing I've ever seen. Tuvok – what a freak-a-saurus! Has the guy ever cracked a smile?"
"Not that I can recall."
"And you, Tom Paris – hmm, sexy, in a Howdy Doody sort of way, pretty goofy, although sometimes I think you're the smartest man I've ever met."

- Rain Robinson and Tom Paris

"God in Heaven help us."
"Divine intervention is unlikely."

- Porter and The Doctor, before The Doctor stuns the two militiamen

"Doctor, how –"
"It's a long story, commander. Suffice it to say, I'm making a house call."

- Chakotay and The Doctor, as the latter rescues the former while nowhere near one of Voyager's holoemitters

"Doctor, get down there."
"How exactly do I get to torpedo tube 1?"

- Chakotay and The Doctor

"Fire!"
(The Aeon's computer beeps)
"Uh oh!"

- Chakotay and Starling, as the Aeon is destroyed by Janeway just before it enters the temporal rift

The "Future's End" story arc originally included not only a second part but also a third and, at one point, a fourth. Supervising producer Brannon Braga explained, "Actually it started out as a four-part arc on Earth in 1996. The studio had some problems with that. They felt that it was too dangerous to attempt. The studio is not a firm believer [even] in two-parters. So we ended up reducing it to three parts, then two. I think it was a good idea, because it really made it a very taut and packed story line." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 109) On the other hand, Braga also stated, "Part of me wishes we had still done the four-parter, because we had Tuvok and Paris get trapped in a convenience store while it was being ambushed by gang members." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 84)

Moments after escaping from Starling and Dunbar in this episode, The Doctor approaches Rain Robinson and smells a tree behind her. This plot point was devised by actor Robert Picardo, taking inspiration from his own childhood. "I added that," he related. "Because I remember when I was a very young child, we took home movies of all the kids together feeding the ducks and all that. And all the other children were smelling the flowers and I'm just busy smelling a leaf. You know what I mean? I'm smelling something that's like a dead piece of branch, because I didn't distinguish between smelling a part of the plant and another part. I was imitating the behavior, but smelling the wrong thing. That kind of stuck in my head." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #14, p. 17)

The subplot involving the capture of Chakotay and Torres by an anti-government group originally featured much more in the episode's plot than it ultimately does. "They had to condense it," director Cliff Bole remarked. "Basically, those were the Freemen, the guys in Montana. That could be a whole script! We had to just nail it for a vignette." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #15)

Some consideration went into the possibility of having Rain Robinson aboard Voyager, but this idea was vetoed by executive producer Rick Berman. Joe Menosky remembered, "Rick hated the idea. He just said, 'Forget it.' So we didn't do it." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 109)

Brannon Braga cited this episode's vehicular activities as bigger action set pieces than had been usual for Star Trek. Referring to the writing team of Star Trek: Voyager, he stated, "We conceived of big action sequences [....] And we crafted big action set pieces like the chase between a Mack truck, a shuttlecraft, and a Volkswagen van." (Star Trek: Voyager Companion)

In this episode, Henry Starling fits The Doctor with a mobile autonomous holographic emitter, allowing The Doctor to freely move about, outside of Voyager's sickbay and holodecks, and even outside of the ship itself. Robert Picardo noted, "I'm mobile." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 91) Picardo had, during the second season of Star Trek: Voyager, suggested that his character of The Doctor go on a planetary mission. Shortly after completing work on that season, Picardo remarked, "I would be in some altered state, I would assume, because they would have to portabilize him." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 97) Furthermore, Picardo had also suggested – during that same season – that The Doctor should be modified for away mission usage in pieces, so that (for a while), his head alone would be sent on such missions. (Delta Quadrant', pp. 150-151) Despite these suggestions – and much in the same ways as Rene Auberjonois reacted to Odo finding his people (in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) – Picardo initially felt that giving The Doctor a mobile emitter would be a huge mistake and would ruin the character, before the actor eventually realized that it was the right decision. "I remember thinking it was a bad idea to give him mobility outside of sickbay," Picardo stated. "I thought that part of the audience's interest in the character was because of the limitations the character had and the challenges he had to face in trying to make the best of his limitations. But Brannon Braga was really right in that idea of giving me the mobile emitter. It opened up whole new storytelling vistas and I was the first to tell him that I was wrong – that the mobile emitter was a great idea." (Star Trek: Voyager Companion) Picardo also recalled, "I was concerned about the Portable Holographic Emitter because I didn't want to mess with a winning combination. The audience seemed to embrace The Doctor's character during the show's first seasons, and so much of his character is based on the notion that he is severely limited and has to cope with limitations such as the fact that he can only exist in Sickbay or in the Holodeck, and that he's different to an organic being. So it seemed to me that if we took the risk of making him more like everyone else, we were damaging part of his uniqueness. Fortunately, that does not seem to have been the case [....] I am very happy that I was wrong about the Portable Emitter." (Star Trek Monthly issue 30, p. 17)

Robert Picardo regretted, however, that a joke he devised could not be included in this episode. "One of the great jokes I wanted to do this year but didn't get the chance to," a laughing Picardo explained, at the end of the third season, "was that the first time I appeared on the bridge, to subconsciously relax in the captain's chair. You know, The Doctor comes on the bridge, decides that the captain's chair is the best place to see what's going on, and sits there. And then, Captain Janeway sees what he's doing and says, 'What the hell's going on?' But it just didn't fit into that episode, because there was so much else going on." (Star Trek Monthly issue 30, p. 17)

In general, Robert Picardo enjoyed working on this episode's two-parter. When asked about favorite episodes at the 2001 Galaxy Ball charity Star Trek convention, Picardo commented, "'Future's End' was one I really enjoyed. Kate [Mulgrew] and I were really close – I look back at that with fond memories." (Star Trek Magazine issue 89, p. 32) A certain part of this installment that Picardo liked was when The Doctor smells the tree, a moment that Picardo referred to as "touching." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #14, p. 17)

Henry Starling actor Ed Begley, Jr. enjoyed working on this episode as well as the previous installment, and felt that this episode's existence was warranted. He enthused, "I loved that I got to battle the Voyager people for two episodes and that I put up a pretty good fight [....] It was a very good story, worth spreading over two shows." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #11) Begley also said, "I thought it was great that Starling got to challenge them for two episodes. I have to say that he did pretty well for a man who was really just a 20th Century Neanderthal!" (Star Trek Monthly issue 26, p. 60)

Although Ed Begley had been unfamiliar with Kate Mulgrew before guest-starring in this episode's duology, their work together here familiarized the actress to him. "I feel like I know her now," Begley said, having worked on this installment's two-parter. "She's wonderfully talented–a very bright and funny lady." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #11)

Alternatively, Ed Begley had appeared alongside Robert Picardo once before. "I had [...] worked with Bob Picardo on a St. Elsewhere episode," Begley explained. (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #11) Despite this connection, he only learned of it while performing here. "Bob told me I was actually very nice to him then," Begley laughed. "I don't remember it, but he certainly returned the favor to me on 'Future's End.'" (Star Trek Monthly issue 26, p. 60)

Director Cliff Bole inherited the guest stars for this episode from David Livingston (who directed the first half of this episode's two-parter). However, Bole was admittedly perplexed that Ed Begley, Jr. had been cast as Henry Starling. Bole explained, "The show had already been cast; I just picked it up when I came in to prep Part II. I like to be part of the initial casting on shows I direct. In this case, I would have had something to say about their choices. Ed was different, but Ed is Ed. I don't think he was the right man for the part. But he brought something different to the table, and it worked." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #15)

Actress Sarah Silverman found that, like her character of Rain Robinson in this installment, she herself became more familiar with the Voyager personnel as time passed. "In both cases, on the show and in real life," Silverman noted, "I got to know these people and what their lives were like and become a part of it." (Star Trek Monthly issue 25, p. 61)

Regular cast member Robert Duncan McNeill liked the nature of the romantic relationship that develops between his character of Tom Paris and Rain Robinson here. "That was a lot of fun," the actor enthused. "I got to have a romantic interest that was very innocent. It was a nice change. That's something [we'd] been talking about for two years, how to deal with Paris' interest in the ladies without making him look like a cad. They did a really nice job of giving me a love interest that was sincere and affectionate without recalling all my casual remarks about the Delaney sisters." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #11)

Several scenes of this episode, as with the previous one, were shot on location. For this installment, the locations used were in Los Angeles and in the Mojave Desert. The chance to go on location was enjoyed by cast and crew alike, including Cliff Bole. (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #15, p. 34)

The square where The Doctor meets up with Paris, Tuvok, and Rain Robinson is actually outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles. [X]wbm

The scene set inside Henry Starling's car was filmed on a set. The production of that scene provided Sarah Silverman, who had often heard about the extreme level to which Ed. Begley, Jr. was an environmentalist, with an amusing anecdote about the actor. "I was so happy to be able to take home to my friends the quintessential Ed Begley moment," Silverman recalled. "We were sitting in the back of a car on set but in between takes. He took out his cellular phone, dialed a number, and I heard him go, 'Hi. It's Ed. Listen, could you go to the garage and unplug my car?' He has an electric car! I just sat there silently thinking, 'Now I can officially finish this job and have a great story to tell my friends!'" (Star Trek Monthly issue 25, p. 62)

This episode, in common with the previous installment, uses modified shots of the Transit Building in Los Angeles to depict Chronowerx headquarters. However, one of the shots in this episode was especially modified for a particular scene. Visual effects supervisor Ronald B. Moore recalled, "We had the spaceship that had to bust out of a building [....] We did the Transit Building, downtown L.A. It became the building and then we were able to manipulate it for the plane to fly out." (Red Alert: Amazing Visual Effects, VOY Season 3 DVD special features) Moore did not have enough time to add dust and debris into this shot, a fact he ultimately regretted. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 98)

Before working on this episode (and the rest of Voyager's third season), CGI supplier Foundation Imaging had regularly worked on Babylon 5, although CGI Effects Director Ron Thornton thought the opportunities that Foundation was presented with on that series paled to the work provided to the company for this episode's adventurous two-parter. Thornton remarked, "We would never have had the opportunity on Babylon 5 to do shots like a truck exploding out near Palmdale, so it was very cool to do it on Voyager." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #16)

Before returning to the 24th century, Voyager leaves some technology behind, including Captain Janeway's combadge (in part 1), her tricorder (in part 1), and The Doctor's holographic combadge. Considering that everything was undone when Voyager destroyed the timeship, these may have been erased from existence on Earth as well. AdmiralKirk and his crew also left technology behind in the 20th century (a phaser and a communicator) in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Following its introduction here, The Doctor's mobile emitter would remain in place until the series' end. However, Robert Picardo initially doubted that the device would be reused. Following the production of this episode but still during the third season, he speculated, "I don't think we'll be able to repeat the method of how they got me off the ship." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #10)

The events of this episode represent the seventh time (aside from the series premiere) that the Voyager crew has a possibility of returning home (to their timeline).

These episodes present a different interpretation of temporal causality than "Time and Again". In both episodes, a terrible disaster occurs, someone returns to the past and ends up trying to prevent the same disaster. In the season one episode, when the disaster is averted, the characters lose their memories and everything is exactly as it was before the disaster. Here, the characters retain their memories and are still in the 20th century after Braxton's ship is destroyed.

The Doctor mentions having recently undergone a severe programming loss, and that he is still in the process of recovering his memory files, referencing events that take place in "The Swarm".

Starling's company is called "Chronowerx," yet the inside of the timeship bay is emblazoned with "Chronowerks".

Although this episode posits 29th century Federation technology as having been responsible for the microcomputer revolution of the 1990s, the fact that the episode ends with Janeway apparently bringing that timeline to an end makes the reasoning no longer applicable. Robert Picardo came up with another explanation for the technological revolution: "Bill Gates is the guy that plundered the other alien ship that crashed, since the one that Ed Begley Jr. plundered now never happened." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 110)

This episode achieved a Nielsen rating of 5.8 million homes, and a 9% share. [2] Jeri Taylor once reckoned, "'Future's End, Part II' [...] is the highest I think we had all year." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 107) However, this episode was actually the second most watched episode of Star Trek: Voyager's third season (on first airing), topped by the third season premiere "Basics, Part II".

Cinefantastique rated this installment 3 and a half out of 4 stars, referring to the episode's duology as "A terrific two-parter that was great fun." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 97)

Brannon Braga was extremely pleased with the response to this episode. He noted, "'Future's End,' although it wasn't everyone's cup of tea, was a critical success, and a ratings success in a big way." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 84)

The fans of Star Trek: Voyager wholeheartedly embraced, or at least seemed to embrace, the concept of the mobile emitter and its use by The Doctor. At the end of the third season, Robert Picardo remarked, "The audience seem to enjoy seeing me on Away Missions and in other parts of the ship [....] I'm [...] very pleased that the audience hasn't written in hundreds of thousands of letters complaining that by using 29th Century technology in the 24th Century, we're clearly breaking the Temporal Prime Directive." (Star Trek Monthly issue 30, p. 17)

One aspect of fan reaction to this episode that Joe Menosky became aware of was disappointment that Rain Robinson does not get to beam aboard Voyager in the episode's two-parter. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 109) One such fan was writer Lou Anders, who had been secretly hoping that Robinson would somehow join the crew at the episode's end. (Star Trek Monthly issue 25, p. 62) In fact, Rick Berman ultimately regretted that the writing team of Star Trek: Voyager had not gone ahead with bringing Rain aboard the ship. Joe Menosky remembered, "I think in retrospect, after the whole thing was done, Rick said, 'Maybe it would have been OK if we would have had her.'" (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 109)

Both Brannon Braga and Jeri Taylor believed this episode's two-parter had an impact on subsequent installments of Star Trek: Voyager. Braga noted, "We began to hit our stride with 'Future's End'." (Star Trek Monthly issue 34, p. 13) Additionally, he observed, "I think, after the first two-parter we did together – which was a time travel show, I think, called 'Future's End' – it was just so much fun to paint on a bigger canvas." (Braving the Unknown: Season Three, VOY Season 3 DVD special features) He also said of the "Future's End" two-parter, "That was really, the turning point, when Voyager became a little bit more fun again. I think I speak for everyone here, in terms of the season. The show kind of started to rejuvenate, and we were doing much more what we wanted to do." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 109) In agreement, Jeri Taylor described this episode's two-parter as "the show that kind of began to swing us back to a more adventure-oriented sense of fun." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 84)

Straight after working on this episode, Sarah Silverman appeared on The Larry Sanders Show. "I actually did 'Future's End' and Larry Sanders back to back," she remarked, "which were unbelievably opposite experiences, although they were both a blast. Another character from Larry Sanders is on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Penny Johnson – and we were talking about [the preciseness required of the dialogue in Star Trek]." (Star Trek Monthly issue 25, p. 61)

Also after appearing in this episode, Sarah Silverman was surprised by the popularity of both Star Trek in general and this installment's two-parter in particular. "I'm shocked," she exclaimed, "because I can't believe how many people watch that show. I've never been recognized so often for one or two shows. I was walking out of this studio to my car, and there was some guy building sets, with his back to me, and I said, 'Excuse me, do you know what time it is?' He went, 'Rain Robinson! You're Rain Robinson! I recognized you from your voice.' There are a lot of Trekkies out there that you never know." (Star Trek Monthly issue 25, p. 62)

Following his work on this episode's two-parter, Ed Begley, Jr. considered returning to Star Trek. "Who knows? Maybe I'll do another Star Trek in the future," he speculated. "Considering how much I enjoyed 'Future's End,' I would certainly welcome the opportunity." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #11) This episode and the previous one constitute his only appearances on Star Trek, however.

Similarly, Sarah Silverman decided that, although she would welcome the opportunity to reprise her role of Rain Robinson if a credible means presented itself (an opportunity that, ultimately, never came to pass), she would be too scared to join the main cast if Rain became a member of Voyager's crew, as Silverman was generally very anxious about commitment. (Star Trek Monthly issue 25, p. 62)